In these pictures, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia is presenting the reports on the Azerbaijani tortures committed against the Armenian captives to His Holiness Pope Francis.

Prior to the meeting, the protocol service of the Holy See informed that there is almost no dialogue during the personal handshake with the Pope, and the greeting lasts for a maximum of two minutes.

When His Holiness Pope Francis approached the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, the Catholicos of All Armenians presented the latter and mentioned that he had a special message. At that moment, the Defender presented his gratitude to the Pope for his statements calling for the cessation of the hostilities unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, and for the release of the Armenian captives still held in Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, Mr. Arman Tatoyan noted that some Armenian captives are still held in Azerbaijan facing threats to their lives and mentioned about the Azerbaijani violations of the rights of the border residents of Armenia.

The Defender noted also that he had brought with him a report proving the above-mentioned facts and presented it to the Pope.

His Holiness Pope Francis took the reports, looked through them and saw the pictures of cruelty.

The Pope thanked for the important reports and mentioned that he had discussed the issue with the Catholicos of All Armenians as well.

Afterwards, during the personal greeting, the Pope thanked for the important work conducted by the Defender and for presenting the reports. He instructed his assistant to study the reports and present them to him.

Three reports were presented to the Pope; the first is about the so called “Trophy Park”, which is an open-air museum of human sufferings based on Armenophobia. The report proves that the “Trophy Park” further incited hatred.

The second report is on the responsibility of Azerbaijan concerning the torture of Armenian captives, accompanied with substantiating facts.

The third is on the ban on using the testimonies of the captives as a basis for a criminal case. The report substantiates have initiated unlawful criminal proceedings against the Armenian captives based on their testimonies which were obtained under torture and inhuman treatment.